Motorbike thief led police on night-time chase

A MOTORCYCLE thief who led police officers on a night-time chase through the streets of Bolton has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Layton Short, aged 19, of Vale Avenue, Radcliffe, took the motorbike from a garden in Rotherhead Close, Horwich, on the evening of September 26 last year, and was spotted riding it dangerously in Chorley Old Road, Bolton, at midnight.

Bolton Magistrates Court heard he eventually abandoned it in Rawsthorne Street, Halliwell, but not before being seen riding on pavements, through fields and on the wrong side of the road at speed.

Steve Woodman, prosecuting, said the dog unit and Greater Manchester Police helicopter were deployed in a bid to catch the teenager, and, when recovered, the motorbike had sustained damage estimated at £500.

Asad Khan, defending Short, said that he was now trying to change his life and obtain work.

Short pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking, dangerous driving and driving while disqualified and without insurance.

Sentencing Short to 16 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, District Judge Jonathan Finestein told him: “I don’t know what you are doing with your life.

“You could have killed yourself, never mind someone else. The consequences could have been horrendous.”

Share article

Short must also carry out 100 hours unpaid work and was made subject of a 7pm to 7am curfew for 12 weeks as well as being supervised for six months and paying £500 compensation.

He was banned from driving for two years at the end of which he must take an extended driving test.

Ipsoregulated

This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standardards Organisations's Editors' Code of Practice. If you have a compaint about editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then please contact the editor here. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here